Friday, July 05, 2013

{FFWD} Wheat Berries and Chicken Salad

When I was growing up my mom made delicious meals on a regular basis. The one meal I was not really a fan of was tuna casserole. I don't really remember her making it often but I just know I didn't like it. Tuna is on my short list of items I do not like to eat. So, when this recipe called for wheat berries (which I had never heard of) and tuna I was not sure I was going to like it. An easy fix was to switch out the tuna for chicken and it worked just fine.

My next issue with this came in wondering where the heck I was going to get wheat berries. I googled and saw you could get them for about $10 a bag. I had a thought though and called Whole Foods. It is a drive to get there but I was able to get a pound of wheat berries for $1.99 in the bulk section!! I also picked up the cherries for next week's recipe as well. I have to say, Whole Foods is expensive but I am a fan of the bulk section!

On Sunday morning I woke up early and boiled the wheat berries for about an hour, mixed up the vinaigrette, and let the berries soak while we went to church. I also boiled 3 eggs for the salad knowing I would eat one to make sure they were cooked correctly.

My sweet mother in law was here this week and she was game to try out any of the crazy things I was making. I even thought about making the swordfish recipe for later this month but she did say she wasn't a big fan of swordfish. I put that one on the back burner for another day. She likes avocados and tomatoes so I plated this salad for her. Mine was lacking tomatoes and my hubs was missing avocado. I put the wheatberries on a sandwich for Little Man and Munchkin had everything but tomatoes as well.

The general consensus (outside of Little Man) was that this was a pretty good recipe unless you got a disproportionate amount of wheatberries in one bite. Munchkin said they were good at first and then not so good. Bobby, Mom, and I all liked it. I do have quite a bit of wheatberry salad left over though so I may be eating it again tomorrow. Do wheatberries go bad? I guess I will find out!

Don't forget to check out all the other Doristas who made this recipe this week! :) Next week Whole Cherry Clafoutis.

8 comments:

As you read in my Post, you can change out wheat berries for other grains that your family might like better. I just loved how this salad went together and filled me up. Thanks for the suggestion of Whole Foods/Bulk section. I will try to get to El Jebel (can you believe that - 30 minutes east of me - Whole Foods) and buy some wheat berries in bulk. I just want to try them and love this salad. Your new look is fabulous. Do you plan to change out the pictures or is it permanent? I like it and it certainly introduces everyone to your family.

Hi Karen, Your wheatberry salad looks delicious. Glad you didn’t spend 10 dollars for a pound. I wouldn’t buy them at that price. It’s nice that your kids tried them. As I said in my post, I grew up on them so I was used to their crunchiness…You can cook them longer till you get the texture that you like. After cooking mine for 1 ¼ hours mine were split and fairly soft but still crunchy. They will last for a very long time in your pantry, I would just store them in a air tight jar. The wheatberry salad will be good for several days. If you cook the wheatberries, and don’t add anything to them, they will stay good in your fridge for 7 to 10 days.

Your salad looks great and I'd love to try it the next time I come out, but you must have had another mother because I hate tuna casserole. I did make tuna salad sandwiches, but since your Grandma Ruth loved to make me eat tuna casserole, I neither make it or ever let it pass my lips.

Chicken is a great idea as an alternative to the tuna. I think this salad can be tweaked in so many ways. It could also be called "Grain and protein with crunchy vegetables". I like the bulk section at Whole Foods. And the bulk spices. I can buy just enough to refill the jars, usually for less than a dollar.